The Forward Party has come out in support of a federal lawsuit filed by Michael Collier, an independent candidate for Texas Lieutenant Governor, challenging state ballot access rules that left him with a limited window to collect the signatures needed to appear on the general election ballot.
In a statement published June 16, the party called independent voters “one of the fastest-growing forces in American politics” but expressed frustration that state election rules frequently benefit the two major parties. It argued Texas law in particular creates an unfair barrier for Collier as an independent by requiring him to collect more than 81,000 valid voter signatures while also barring him from starting that process until after the primary runoff for lieutenant governor had ended.
Under Texas law, independent candidates typically begin collecting petition signatures after the general primary. However, this changes in the event a runoff is held for the office they are seeking, in which case signatures cannot be collected until after the runoff.
While incumbent Dan Patrick easily won the Republican primary for lieutenant governor during the state’s initial March 3 primary, the Democratic contest advanced to a May 26 runoff between State Rep. Vikki Goodwin and Marcos Velez after no candidate received a majority. Goodwin ultimately defeated Velez, opening Collier’s petitioning window the following day and leaving him 30 days before the June 25 deadline.
As first reported by Ballot Access News, Collier filed his lawsuit on June 10 against Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson and Deputy Secretary of State Dave Nelson. The complaint argues that Texas’s ballot access rules violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments by imposing a severely compressed petitioning period, limiting which voters may sign an independent candidate’s petition, and denying independent candidates the filing fee option available to candidates of the Republican and Democratic parties.
In its statement, the Forward Party said the lawsuit challenges a system that creates “barriers that serve no public purpose other than locking independent candidates and the voters who want to support them out of the process.” The party compared the requirements for independent candidates with those for Republican and Democratic candidates, noting that such candidates for lieutenant governor can qualify for the primary ballot by either paying a $3,750 filing fee or submitting a much smaller petition of 5,000 signatures.
“This is exactly the kind of political gatekeeping that has left so many Americans feeling shut out of our democracy,” said Forward Party CEO Lindsey Drath. “Texas voters deserve more choices, not fewer. This lawsuit is not about helping one candidate or hurting another party. It is about whether the rules of our democracy should serve voters or protect the two-party status quo.”
Collier, who previously ran as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2018 and 2022, is joined in the lawsuit by several voters and political figures who say they want to support his candidacy. The plaintiffs include Brandon David, chair of the Texas Forward Party; former Dallas Mayor and former U.S. Rep. Steve Bartlett; former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley; former Texas State Senator Kel Seliger; and several others. The Forward Party said the lawsuit is also supported by leaders from the national organization.
The lawsuit asks the court to block enforcement of the challenged provisions and to provide further relief needed to ensure Collier’s placement on the 2026 general election ballot as an independent candidate for lieutenant governor.
Be First to Comment